Which would you rather read?

Chazemataz · May 2, 2010

I can't decide between three novels I am writing & hoping on eventually pitching. which one of the 3 do you think sounds most appealing? Which one would an agent likely be interested in? Which one would you be interested in? (all are young adult)

-A boy, Ethan, moves to a small Ohio town & murders begin to happen the moment he moves in, as well as several other strange occurences. He befriends a nerdy girl, Holly, who turns out to be a witch; and a vampire named Jack who was the lover of Ethan's great aunt before she died as a teenager. The three of them all realize that they are complex and tied together. This one has 87 computer pages written.

-A fantasy-themed novel, centering around a close group of 6 friends (a boy with cancer, twins, a punk rocker, the cancer's boys' cousin, & a boy with a star wars obsession) who travel to another world that is on the brink of literal destruction at the hands of a ditzy new dictator (think Paris Hilton meets Josef Stalin). This one is dark and deep & is mainly about the complex nature of friendship and love, as well as the emotional turmoil of having a loved one with cancer. Kind of like a grown-up narnia, I was thinking. This one has 45 computer pages written.

-A diverse group of kids are sitting in English class, talking about how boring they think Agatha Christie's novels are. Their teacher overhears this and forces them to join an after-school "Mystery Club" where they discuss mystery novels, which they all hate due to their different personalities. However, when a student is found stabbed to death and the cops are comically unhelpful, they decide to take matters into their own hands. This is also partially inspired by the breakfast club in that they all end up finding out that they are all equally insecure & all end up incredibly close by the time they solve the mystery. The mystery obviously isn't the only focus- they fight, fall in love, fall in like, come out of the closet (and stay firmly shut in one), drink do drugs & make bad decisions, and other teenage stuff. I've only written the first 3 pages.

Sorry if I sound extremely pretentious and whatnot but I have trouble making decisions like these and only have time to focus on 1- your guys' input would greatly aid in making a final decision. Thanks!

Z0Marley · May 2, 2010

Chazemataz said:
-A fantasy-themed novel, centering around a close group of 6 friends (a boy with cancer, twins, a punk rocker, the cancer's boys' cousin, & a boy with a star wars obsession) who travel to another world that is on the brink of literal destruction at the hands of a ditzy new dictator (think Paris Hilton meets Josef Stalin). This one is dark and deep & is mainly about the complex nature of friendship and love, as well as the emotional turmoil of having a loved one with cancer. Kind of like a grown-up narnia, I was thinking. This one has 45 computer pages written.

Sorry if I sound extremely pretentious and whatnot but I have trouble making decisions like these and only have time to focus on 1- your guys' input would greatly aid in making a final decision. Thanks!

Hands down that one.

Hands down.

Of course, I love fantasy.

Shady Lane · May 2, 2010

I agree, and I don't even like fantasy.

Dot Hutchison · May 2, 2010

Make that a third vote; if nothing else, I desperately want to see Paris Hilton meets Josef Stalin.

jscribbles · May 2, 2010

I like your description of the Paris Hilton dictator-type person! I'm torn between that one and the first one.

The third one doesn't sound quite plausible to me. Unless the kids have done something bad, the teacher couldn't force them to stay after school, and even then it would just be detention. She couldn't make them read mysteries. You'd have to tie it to the curriculum somehow. But that would be okay! I could see a teacher doing a unit on mysteries.

BradleyWilliams · May 2, 2010

-A fantasy-themed novel, centering around a close group of 6 friends (a boy with cancer, twins, a punk rocker, the cancer's boys' cousin, & a boy with a star wars obsession) who travel to another world that is on the brink of literal destruction at the hands of a ditzy new dictator (think Paris Hilton meets Josef Stalin). This one is dark and deep & is mainly about the complex nature of friendship and love, as well as the emotional turmoil of having a loved one with cancer. Kind of like a grown-up narnia, I was thinking. This one has 45 computer pages written.

I would go with that one. It has potential for sure. I would see where it takes you.

Danthia · May 3, 2010

I like number three (the mystery club) because it sounds like it's the only one of the three that has a plot and not just a premise. It's about these kids trying to solve a murder. The other two are about themes and ideas, but I didn't see a solid protag with a goal and no character who actually was trying to accomplish anything. They were just dealing with stuff, if that makes sense.

Of course that might have just been how you described them

Momento Mori · May 3, 2010

Chazemataz:
I can't decide between three novels I am writing & hoping on eventually pitching. which one of the 3 do you think sounds most appealing? Which one would an agent likely be interested in? Which one would you be interested in?

I think you're asking the wrong questions.

Given that you'll most likely spend at least 6 months with this book and anything over a couple of years, you need to pick the idea that most appeals to you - the one that you are most passionate about because you're the one who's going to be stuck realising it day in, day out.

If you're writing for the market, i.e. to please an agent or please the potential audience, then you're going to lose that passon v. quickly (IMHO).

Given that you're already almost 90 pages into idea number 1, I'm interested in knowing why you want to give up on it now. If you've stuck with it, or have lost interest in it then I think it's a good idea to work out why before you write it off altogether (no pun intended

).

If it's just the case that you're stuck, or that your other ideas are competing for attention then you need to be more disciplined about it. There's no point in worrying about potential readership and agent likes/dislikes until you've got a completed project to actually show them.

However, for what it's worth I think that when it comes to looking at your next novel, then you could do a lot worse than number 3 because as Danthia says, it's got real plot potential.

MM

Baryonyx · May 3, 2010

I'd go with number 3

sohalt · May 3, 2010

I quite like the third option, but I agree with JWheeler that you desperately need a better pretext to get them all into the mystery club.

The fantasy-thing seems a bit generic, apart from the much lauded Paris Hilton as dictator aspect of course. (Seems not much of a stretch though - most dictators are incredibly vain and often act quite erratically. Downright dizzy? Well, I'll give you that, but then again, I think that the actual Paris might be quite a bit smarter than she lets on).

Midnight Star · May 3, 2010

I like the third one best, but that's probably because I am in love with mysteries.

The other two have potential, though.

PoppysInARow · May 3, 2010

I'm going to be a dork and say the first option. The second really didn't appeal to me. The moment it goes to "transported to another world" you lost me. I've seen that theme too many times.

However, any of these could be done really well. I suggest you pick the one that you want to write the most. Because that passion will show through in your writing and your readers will respond best to it.

CalynMorgan · May 3, 2010

I'm torn between the first and second. I think I like the second one the most though. I am a big geek for 'other world' stories. There is also more room for creativity because you have several characters in a world that you create.

I wouldn't toss the other stories out though. They all have potential!

Stunted · May 3, 2010

For me, all three have suspension of disbelief problems. The first one, I find it weird that witches and vampires both spontaneously exist in the real world. I know it's done all the time, but for me, I can suspend disbelief for one supernatural thing existing in the real world, but once two show up, I'm not into it.

I have a similar reaction to "other world" stories, especially if they're dark, especially if there's no reason for the world to exist, especially if the characters aren't 10 or under, and especially if the world follows roughly the same rules as the real one.

And, as others have said, why would high school kids join a club because a teacher wanted them to?

These are all VERY personal opinions! In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't listen to me. But you asked for me opinion, so *shrug*.

Good luck! You can do it!

fredXgeorge · May 3, 2010

I like the first one.

Chazemataz · May 5, 2010

Well, I got bored & burned out on the first one because it is a rewrite of another one that I wrote in 9th grade, five years ago. It wasn't too good, but I loved the plot, premise, & characters.

The second one gave me writer's block, and the plot started resembling Final Fantasy a bit too much.

And as for the 3rd one- I am thinking it'll be a "join the mystery club, or get detentions for insubordination". Perhaps they could create a Facebook group saying something similar to "Ms. Bendal's Class is pointless, just like her updo". That would've been a suspendable offense in my school, I know that. Does that sound plausible?

Or perhaps I could change it to a general literature club, where they are all assigned to find a classical piece of literature that describes them- ie, one kid could pick Macbeth & his life would mirror that- ruthlessly stabbing his friends in the back to get to the top. Obviously, it'd be a bit more emotional than seeming like a simple school project, and they'd run into problems with the murders & attempting to act like the protagonists of the books that resemabled them, drawing strength from their stories.

Or... I could combine the first & third ones? Would the supernatural themes added in be "too much"?

Danthia · May 6, 2010

I like the mystery club idea better than lit club. More potential. (and the taking on traits of fiction characters idea in some form or another has been done a lot).

You could always have the club participation part be more voluntary (as in they choose which club). The kids get in trouble and they're given a choice. Punishment X or get more involved in some school activities. This might work is you link whatever they did to being uninvolved, maybe give the school a principal who is trying hard to get students involved in the school itself.

Supernatural elements is up to you, but unless you can come up with a good plot that involves them, I'd probably skip it. That story is already in your head, and you might try to force that one into the mystery and neither one will work. And since that idea bored you already, it might do it again.

Sage · May 6, 2010

Which one would you rather write? That's the question.

Phinxy · May 16, 2010

I like #3 the best.

For #1, don't get me wrong, I LOVE fantasy, paranormal, etc. (it's 90% of what I read), but personally, when I see the word "vampire" now ("witch" is getting there too, along with "werewolf"), no matter how awesome the book potentially is, I just want a fresh idea.

For #2 - Kind of the same thing. I feel the idea of going into a different world just isn't screaming new.

But #3 - I like this one the best because it hasn't been recycled over and over yet. This story might also make it easier to focus on the characters and their growth because there won't be as much world-building as #1 and #2.
And after reading HEIST SOCIETY, I am digging non-magical fantasy. Because it still isn't realistic (kids solving a murder? Probably doesn't happen in real life), but it could theoretically, which I think will appeal to readers.

BUT ABOVE ALL ELSE, as others have said, write what you want to write the most. Any book can be awesome, it just depends on the execution. So if you like #1 or #2 best, I'd say go for it.

Which would you rather read?

Chazemataz

I went to sleep a poet

Z0Marley

Shady Lane

my name is hannah

Dot Hutchison

Falling through Clockwork

jscribbles

Who killed my sea monkeys?

BradleyWilliams

New kid, no need to be gentle!

Danthia

Momento Mori

Tired and Disillusioned

Baryonyx

sohalt

Midnight Star

We are once in a lifetime.

PoppysInARow

CalynMorgan

In case of zombies, break the glass

Stunted

Ich heiße Superphantastisch!

fredXgeorge

I heart sexy elves and wizards.

Chazemataz

I went to sleep a poet

Danthia

Sage

Our Lady of Parentheticals

Phinxy